Earnest Partners LLC Has $55.87 Million Stock Holdings in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 348,138 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 5,251 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC owned approximately 0.70% of EastGroup Properties worth $55,873,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 337.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 49,097 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $8,728,000 after buying an additional 37,863 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,625 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 452,429 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $72,610,000 after buying an additional 23,626 shares during the period. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in EastGroup Properties in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,871,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 72,392 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $11,667,000 after buying an additional 4,176 shares during the period. 92.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $175.00 to $172.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $192.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $189.00 to $183.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $174.00 to $194.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $186.94.

EastGroup Properties Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE EGP traded up $0.77 on Thursday, reaching $164.19. The company had a trading volume of 281,222 shares, compared to its average volume of 369,995. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.62 billion, a PE ratio of 35.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $170.07 and a 200-day moving average of $170.39. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.67 and a 1 year high of $192.61.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.01. EastGroup Properties had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 35.57%. The business had revenue of $174.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $169.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.98 EPS. The business's revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. EastGroup Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 122.54%.

EastGroup Properties Profile

EastGroup Properties, Inc NYSE: EGP, a member of the S&P Mid-Cap 400 and Russell 1000 Indexes, is a self-administered equity real estate investment trust focused on the development, acquisition and operation of industrial properties in major Sunbelt markets throughout the United States with an emphasis in the states of Florida, Texas, Arizona, California and North Carolina.